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Bishop of Clogher dedicates Clogher Hostel in Nigeria

Bishop of Clogher dedicates Clogher Hostel in Nigeria

The Rt Revd Dr Michael Jackson, bishop of Clogher, recently spent a week in
Kaduna Diocese, Province of Nigeria as the guest of Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon,
bishop of Kaduna. Archbishop Josiah had visited Clogher Diocese twice in recent
years. On the first occasion he gave a lecture on the theme Christianity and
Conflict during Clogher Diocese’s Macartan 1500 Programme; on the second,
accompanied by his wife Comfort, he attended a number of functions in the Diocese,
which included a visit to Belleek Primary School, he also met with members
of the Jacaranda Support Committee.

Kaduna Diocese recently purchased Jacaranda Farm and has developed it as a
diocesan and provincial resource. There are agricultural projects, food provision
and a range of accommodation facilities on a site in excess of 70 hectares.
Jacaranda is the vision of Archbishop Josiah to give a beating heart to the
diocese and to promote an ethos of financial self-sufficiency. Earlier in the
year, the Reverend Noel Regan, Chairperson of the Jacaranda Support Committee
visited Jacaranda Farm and Kaduna Diocese. Clogher Diocese has already funded
a number of agricultural initiatives at the farm, and most recently has funded
the Clogher Diocesan Hostel, a facility of twenty rooms nearing completion
on the Jacaranda complex.

Archbishop Josiah invited Bishop Jackson to dedicate the Clogher Hostel. In
his sermon on that occasion the bishop took as his text Matthew 13:31-33, the
parables of the mustard seed and of the yeast. He said, 'These two parables,
side by side, take the work of a man and a woman and find in this work not
only the glory of God but the kingdom of heaven. Today we celebrate the togetherness
of the Anglican Communion between the Church of Ireland and the Church of Nigeria
in collaboration, fellowship, prayer and praise. We thank God for the signs
of his kingdom in the everyday things of life and in our common witness to
his coming.'

Bishop Jackson also celebrated and preached in a number of churches, visited
two Rural Deaneries in Kaduna South where church growth and church planting
are being carried out with vigour and energy. He also accompanied medical teams
into the bush and was impressed by the thoroughly Biblical combination of healing
and teaching. The medical team was accompanied by the village evangelist and
both worked instinctively together. The overall visit culminated in a three-day
Advent Rally also held at Jacaranda. This was for the whole of Kaduna Province
and took the theme of the Lord's return from Acts chapter 1. Approximately
one thousand people attended the Rally.

On Advent Sunday, Bishop Jackson celebrated and preached at the Eucharist
in St Michael's Cathedral, Kaduna. The service began at 7.00am; there was a
choir of around seventy people and more than twenty musicians with a congregation
of more than four hundred. The bishop underlined the fourfold need in Advent
to wait for the coming of the Lord, to watch for the signs of the kingdom,
to witness to the kingdom of God already in our midst and to work in the spirit
of Matthew 25.

Returning to Clogher through Abuja, Bishop Jackson was invited by the British
High Commissioner to meet with him, during which a number of matters were discussed.